The Mysterious, Disappearing Mistletoes
by anonhermionegranger
Summary: Draco has been trying to get Hermione under a mistletoe. The problem is, they somehow keep disappearing.


_Disclaimer: Not my world, sadly. All characters and the world of Harry Potter belong to the wonderful lady, J.K. Rowling._

Draco was running out of options; he was determined to get her under the mistletoe in some corridor, _any_ corridor. He had not yet succeeded, and not for his lack of trying, either. He had gone through their shared route—for they both took the same corridors to get to the same classes—and made sure there were multiple mistletoes above, even if he had to be the one who placed them there.

He would walk ahead of her, though they usually walked together, Magick up a lone mistletoe and pretend to lace up his trainers, conveniently finishing up just in time to walk under the mistletoe at the same time she was. Every time, through some unknowable force out to get him, the mistletoe managed to somehow disappear just as they walked under. He would curse softly under his breath but continued to talk to her normally, paying no heed to her bemused stares, not wanting to let her in as to how disappointed he truly was.

Granger never seemed to notice the lack of mistletoe in their route. _How could she possibly not?_ he would wonder,_ every other corridor in the school was horded by mistletoe; every few feet, someone would be snogging._ It infuriated him, how she didn't seem to care that they could _possibly_ have to kiss; wasn't she hoping to get under a mistletoe with him just as much as he was wishing to get under one with her?

After the fifth time that week that the mistletoe he placed somehow managed to disappear, he decided he needed a new tactic. Simply hanging the mistletoe himself wasn't working; how did it manage to disappear seconds afterwards? He went to the library, searching for new ideas. He still thought placing it himself might work; he just needed it to _stay_ there, just long enough for him and Granger to get lost in a lip-lock. He even contemplated asking the baboons she called friends but decided that if he, Draco Malfoy who was considerably smarter than both of them combined, couldn't think of a solution, why would he think _they _might be able to come up with something? No, it was better if he continued to scour the library in hopes of finding an answer.

On the second night of his dutiful research, Draco came across the perfect solution to his problem of vanishing mistletoes; he couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it earlier.

A simple Permanent-Sticking Charm would do the trick and, placed strategically, he would be sure to kiss Granger before they left for the break. He decided to practice; though he could perform the charm quite easily, he had to make sure it worked as well on plants as it did on paintings and such.

A walk around the grounds had him finding a handful of spring flowers, whose stems poked through the frozen ground a whole season early. He charmed them so they stayed permanently on banisters and the wall corridors and, when he was completely satisfied, moved on to practicing the charm on the horrid mistletoe, a plant he had grown to hate, as they couldn't seem to hang above his head at the right place and time.

He had already decided where he was to hang the offending flower; since the corridors on their way to their lessons weren't much luck, he decided that the doorway that led to their shared Heads dorm was the best place to hang the mistletoe above. He didn't care about the future Heads, who would be forced to kiss come Christmas every year, all he cared about was him kissing Granger as much as he wanted to for the rest of winter.

The next morning, after Granger left for breakfast, already holding her books for her morning classes, Draco hung the darned mistletoe with the Permanent-Sticking Charm right at the center, just above the portrait hole that allowed them to enter their dorm. He then made sure the charm worked properly, trying to Vanish it and then using any spell he could think of to try to take it down, even resorting to hands as if somehow brute force would be able to dissipate the charm placed on it. Satisfied when it hadn't moved an inch, even after half an hour's worth of mistreatment, he grinned and left for breakfast.

Throughout the day, he made unnecessary trips after every lesson to make sure it hadn't disappeared. He returned buoyant at the start of the next lesson, though he was nearly late for most of them.

During lunch, he ate quickly as if eating hastily could bring the afternoon lessons faster and with them, the next time he and Granger both crossed over the threshold of their shared dorm. He waited impatiently until it seemed normal for someone to leave the Great Hall and left to check on the mistletoe. As he made his way through the empty hallway, he didn't hear the soft, dainty footsteps that followed him.

Draco thought nothing could mar his good mood and he hummed to himself as he reached the portrait. He glanced upwards and, perhaps because he had gotten a tiny bit cocky seeing it there continuously throughout the day, he didn't immediately comprehend that it wasn't there.

When he did notice it, a second later, he cursed loudly.

"Fuck. Fuck, fuck. FUCK!" He yelled, frustrated beyond belief, hitting the stone wall. How could this have happened? It was just there when he checked before lunch.

"There was a mistletoe hanging there, wasn't it Malfoy?"

Somehow Draco was not surprised to hear her voice.

"Yeah," he replied, his voice curiously blank, "there was."

She pondered this in silence and just as he was going to turn to see if she was still there or if he imagined the whole encounter, she spoke. "And you're really _this_ upset about it, huh?"

He turned to look at the blank expanse of wall above the entrance before glancing at her, not bothering to answer her silly question.

"And, Malfoy, you put it there, didn't you?"

He nodded mutely, still looking at her. When she raised a single eyebrow, as if to question how it got there, he added with an expressionless voice, "Permanent-Sticking Charm."

Hermione grinned. "Permanent-Sticking Charm, huh? You must've_ really _wanted to snog me."

He scowled. "It's not funny, Granger. The mistletoe's gone."

She frowned slightly. "And why couldn't you just kiss me? You know, without it?"

"Yeah, right, Granger. As if—"

"What's that supposed to mean—"

"—just bloody walk up to—"

"—acting as if I'm some sort of prud—"

"—sure way to get my balls hexed off—"

"—as if I'm unkissable. And no, Malfoy, I'd like to have your balls in working order for the future—" She cut off suddenly, looking a little pink.

Draco smirked. "For the future, huh Granger? Thought up any plans involving my balls?"

"N-No, not for me, of course! I was just thinking of the other girls…" she trailed off when Draco stepped closer to her. Narrowing her eyes, she stepped back. "Keep over there, Malfoy."

He stepped closer, her strawberry scent invading his senses. "Or what?" he whispered.

"Malfoy, I'm warning you—"

He took a final step, his body now flushed against hers. Her chest pushed against his with every breath she took. "What, Granger?" His gaze traveled over her face, meeting her hazel eyes before slipping toward her heart-shaped lips. Under his stare, she licked her lips and he growled softly.

"Malfoy, this is not a good idea, anyone can come soon; lunch is almost over—" Draco, not wanting to hear any more reasons why he should wait even _longer_ to kiss Granger, lowered his mouth onto hers. He kissed her softly once, twice, before leaning his forehead against hers, a hand trailing her soft, porcelain cheek.

He was going in to kiss her again when she exclaimed, pointing above their heads, "Look, Malfoy!" He reluctantly glanced upward at—what do you know?—a mistletoe.

A/N: This is my first Christmas drabble. Well, is it considered a drabble? I'm not sure... It's not my first fanfiction, though, because I had started a dramione one that I have abandoned, sadly. This is my _second_ one, though, lol.

Feel free to review and thanks for reading. This came to me in the shower, actually, can you believe it?


End file.
